Author: Press Room

By Bernadette Christina and Danial Azhar KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Stagnating global palm oil production and higher biodiesel mandates are likely to curb supplies of the world’s most used vegetable oil this year, setting the stage for further gains in prices, which are trading at their highest in seven months. Palm oil output in Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for a bulk of global production, is likely to either rise marginally in 2024 or decline from last year’s level, as ageing plantations and a lack of expansion caps output, analysts told an industry conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. “Vegetable…

Investing.com– Most Asian currencies fell sharply on Friday, coming under pressure from a rebound in the dollar as an unexpected interest rate cut by the Swiss National Bank pushed currency traders squarely into the greenback.   The dollar surged to a three-week high in Asian trade, extending a strong rebound from Thursday as the saw traders largely look past signals on interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Dollar strong at 3-week high as SNB cut overshadows Fed outlook  The and rose 0.8% and 0.2%, respectively in Asian trade on Thursday. Outsized gains in the dollar index signaled more immediate demand…

By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters -Japan’s biggest companies agreed to raise wages by 5.28% for 2024, the heftiest pay hikes in 33 years, the country’s largest union group said on Friday, reinforcing views that the county’s central bank will soon shift away from a decade-long stimulus programme. The much-stronger-than-expected increase comes as the Bank of Japan looks close to ending eight years of negative interest rate policy. BOJ officials have stressed the timing of a pivot would depend on the outcome of this year’s annual wage negotiations. Policymakers hope that big pay rises will boost household spending and produce more…

I was stuck a few months ago. After the unexpected but welcome blessing of the birth of our healthy newborn (the two older kids are 20 and 18 😊), my wife and I had just come home from the hospital following emergency surgery resulting from latent labor complications. We had a plan worked out for the division of labor with the baby’s homecoming, but that plan evaporated after my wife’s emergency surgery. Now, we had a newborn and a recovering patient. Whatever was coming next was on me. In a moment of not-so-quiet desperation, I confessed to my wife, “I’m…

Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 7.000% as of March 22, which is 0.125 percentage points lower than yesterday. Additionally, the interest rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.125%, which is unchanged from yesterday. With mortgage rates changing daily, it’s a good idea to check today’s rate…

The U.S. Department of Education just published a state-by-state list of borrowers who have received forgiveness under President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. The announcement breaks down how much forgiveness each state has received and how many borrowers are enrolled in the plan in each state. So far, borrowers have received a total of $1.2 billion throughout the country.These are the 10 states where borrowers have received the most student loan forgiveness: State Number of borrowers Forgiveness amount (in millions) Texas 14,510 $116.6 California 13,580 $114.8 Florida 12,790 $105.4 New York 8,190 $63.4 Ohio  7,540 $60 Georgia…

Consumers likely paid hefty fees on Valentine’s Day if they bought gifts using credit cards. Swipe fees — fees credit card issuers and issuing banks charge retailers to process debit and credit card transactions — cost consumers an estimated $578 million in higher prices this Valentine’s Day, a Merchant Payments Coalition study found. The study based this estimate on the average 2.24% rate on Visa and Mastercards. Since the average amount spent on Valentine’s Day is $185.81, consumers paid about $4.16 per person in swipe fees.The Merchant Payments Coalition couldn’t give exact figures since not all Valentine’s Day purchases were…

Spending money is easy, but saving it is a lot harder. Luckily, there are tons of free financial tools you can leverage to help you save money, pay off and stay out of debt. Bankrate is one of these tools. Bankrate offers a slew of calculators all geared towards very specific financial goals. Whether you’re trying to pay off a hefty student loan or save for the down payment on a home, these calculators can help.  Read on to learn how you can use Bankrate to make smart financial choices and achieve your savings goals. SAVING MORE MONEY: 10 CLEVER WAYS…

An emergency fund should be a priority for Americans to be prepared for unforeseen and urgent expenses. Experts recommend you should have several months of living expenses saved that can be used for emergency situations. “We recommend having three to six months’ worth of expenses saved in an emergency savings fund but even as little as a few hundred dollars has been found to significantly increase financial stability,” Meagan Dow, senior strategist at Edward Jones, told FOX Business. “For example, if you can put away $50 per month, within a year you’d have $600, or more, with interest saved up for…

The Biden administration has set a key deadline for student loan borrowers hoping to get forgiveness.Those with multiple federal student loans who request a consolidation by April 30 — which will leave them with one, larger loan — could benefit from the U.S. Department of Education’s overhaul of income-driven repayment plans.Those changes have already led to debt cancelation for more than 930,000 people and $45 billion in relief.”The opportunity to consolidate loans will help many more borrowers to qualify for student loan forgiveness,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.Here’s what to know about the deadline.Consolidation can get you closer to…